1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eyelet for a snap fastener composed of a male and a female member, and more particularly to a capped eyelet for attaching such a fastener member to a garment fabric or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known capped eyelets for the concerned purposes generally comprise an eyelet body with a flange, and a cap covering thereover, the flange extending outwardly from one end of a cylindrical or tubular shank. In attaching a snap fastener member to a garment fabric, the eyelet body is fastened to the fastener member by deforming a free end of the shank to engage a coupling portion of the fastener member. During this attachment, an endwise force is necessarily applied to the shank toward the cap with the result that the latter is dented and has a scar or scars on its outer surface. This is due to the force applied to the shank which in turn acts on the inner surface of the cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,306 discloses, as reillustrated here in FIG. 5, an eyelet having a pair of reinforcing wings 6', 6' punched from the flange 2' and folded over to project radially inwardly in such a manner that the under surface of each folded-over wing 6' is flush with the top surface of the flange 2'. The two wings 6', 6' coact with a wall of the shank 4' to absorb the riveting force applied thereto.
Another prior art eyelet, as proposed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 56-174506 and reillustrated here in FIG. 6, has more than two reinforcing wings 6" punched from the flange 2" and folded over to project radially inwardly in such a manner that each folded-over wing 6" is disposed in the general plane of the flange 2". The wings 6" serve to absorb the riveting force applied thereto.
However, with the arrangement of either U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,306 or Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 56-174506, since the wings 6', 6" can absorb only incompletely the riveting force applied thereto, it is impossible to prevent the cap B', B" from being marked with any scar on its outer surface.